Gandalf is a powerful wizard and is one of the characters that bridge The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. He is also one of the few characters that Tolkien himself had ever sketched, and is one of the major characters in both works and makes an excellent choice for the freshman series of figures from Toy Vault. He carries a magic staff as well as Glamdring (foe-hammer), a magic sword that he found in The Hobbit in the hoard of some trolls. He is well versed in the lore of Middle Earth and is one of the five Istari (who were of the Maiar race, which is basically a step below the Valar and a step above the elves) who were sent to Middle Earth by the Valar (analogous to greater angels) to help unite the peoples against Sauron.

Gandalf ended up with five versions of him as an action figure, four that were initially released when the line started and another that was part of the mass-market series released to TRU, KB Toys and a few others. The initial four figures have more accessories than the mass-market version and were sold either through the direct market via hobby shops or through Toy Vault's Toy Club. All the figures are articulated identically with ten points - two shoulders, two knees and thighs, one wrist and elbow along with the waist and neck. They all have a non-articulated left arm that was designed for the light-up feature of Gandalf the Grey and they have removable heads to facilitate removing and replacing the cloak. Due to the sculpting of Gandalf's beard the heads do not have a large range of motion. Gandalf was sculpted by Daniel Horne.

Gandalf In Hobbiton - This shows Gandalf as he appeared in Hobbiton at the start of FOTR and was an exclusive of the Toy Vault toy club. It uses the same head and staff as Gandalf the Grey, but the staff doesn't have the light up feature. He also has a cloth cape and robe specially designed for this variant. He also includes a plastic hat, the sword Glamdring, a scabbard, a belt, a pipeweed pouch, a pipe and a pouch for food. He came with a hexagonal stand and was limited to 2000 pieces.

Gandalf The Grey - This was the version of Gandalf, and shows his appearance through most of FOTR until the battle with the Balrog in Moria and was a Diamond Comics exclusive. He has a cloth robe and cape, belt, scabbard with the sword Glamdring, a pipe and pipeweed pouch, a pouch of food and a light-up staff. Gandalf the Grey's head sculpt is the same as the Hobbiton version but differs from the White and Fangorn Gandalf in that he has a hole for the pipe to fit in. He also came with a Hexagonal stand.

Gandalf The White - This is the 'standard issue' figure and shows Gandalf as he appeared after his battle with the Balrog and his ascendancy to the head of the council of white. This figure has a different, thinner staff and a head without the hole for the pipe that is on Gandalf the Grey and Hobbiton Gandalf. He also has a hat, white robe and cape, food and pipeweed pouches, plastic hat, Glamdring and scabbard and belt and pipe.

Gandalf In Fangorn - This is a version of Gandalf that is between the 'Grey' and 'White' version which shows the character as he was seen in Fangorn Forest in The Two Towers before he was revealed as Gandalf the White. This figure was an exclusive to White's Guide to Collecting Figures (a magazine which is no longer in publication) and used the same head as Gandalf the White. He has a white robe with a grey cloak, Glamdring and scabbard, food and pipeweed pouches, a plastic hat with the thinner staff (the same as Gandalf the White) and a pipe (which he cannot smoke due to having the 'smokeless' head).

Gandalf the Wizard - This was a version of Gandalf released to mass-market retailers and used the same head as Gandalf the Grey. He has a plastic hat, the same staff as Gandalf the Grey (without the light-up action feature), Glamdring and scabbard, grey robe and belt with the pipeweed pouch and food pouch , and oddly no pipe. The card art for this figure was a little more generic than those of the other four Gandalfs and this figure was re-released on a different cardback later in the line.